Car magnets...your thoughts...?

ISellRiverview · 05-15-2007, 05:41 PM

I feel like such a dummy. I ordered car magnets for my Jeep Liberty and they arrived and they are too big! They don't fit flat on the doors, they are 12" x 24" which I wrongly assumed was a standard sized magnet for cars. Oh well - they'll fit on hubby's car door when we go out in his car. And sadly they can't be cut because of the way they are designed. Poo.

But since I now need to order a smaller sized magnet set to fit my car, I was researching some more and see that some companies offer car magnets with your agent photo on them. What do we think about this? Cheesy, or effective to get your face out there? I am still not sure where I stand on the issue of plastering my face on everything - on one hand its my "brand" and my hair probably makes me stand out a bit from most - but on another hand I am afraid I look cheesy doing that. What do you think?

Goknights · 05-15-2007, 06:47 PM

save your money and use it to market in another way.

darrenwoodard · 05-15-2007, 07:00 PM

I agree... I would save my money... Car magnets will only get you in trouble when you cut somebody off.

Sam Dodd · 05-15-2007, 07:02 PM

Your face on the car is ok. Mine on the other hand is not that cute.

LOL also I am way to aggresive with my driving habbits for a Car Magnet. You could go with the full car wrap! I mean why not go all out!

Jeff Casterline · 05-15-2007, 07:45 PM

I used them for about 6 months and never had any response. My wife also pointed out to me as much as I get mad

at bad drivers it is probably not a good idea to have my name, number and place of employment plastered on my car.

brandonre · 05-15-2007, 11:40 PM

I think car magnets are a semi good idea maybe put them on your car for a little while you will be suprised how many of your neigbors might not know you are in real estate, but I agree with everyone is saying about cutting people off and bad drivers there are some crazy people out there.

Smuck · 05-16-2007, 06:41 AM

My wife has had her real estate license since 1996, however, I was a painting and building contractor in Southern California until about 5 years ago. Marketing was a big deal with me and I relied heavily on vehicle marketing. Here are examples of our company vehicles:

Commonly, this was the type of question asked of our customers by their neighbors when they saw our vehicles drive up:

"Oh, I didn't know you were having work done on your home (insert selling your home, for application), are you happy with your contractor? We need work done as well!"

Or, I cannot tell you how many times I heard this variety:

"We needed a contractor, and lo and behold, your vehicle was right beside us in the parking lot (or on the road, or whatever)"

My wife and I only recently started doing real estate full time (we've had investment properties forever, however), and will no doubt have a vehicle professionally done. Generally, it's nice to have a work vehicle, as often times, and for whatever reason, you simply do not want to be seen.

We tried vehicle magnets at one point, but we found that on occasion they would fly off, or worse yet, vibrate and scratch the car.

Regarding how you drive. My problem wasn't driving badly, it was ignoring people trying to wave or whatever. I was REALLY into books-on-tape and would get so engaged in a good one that I would be oblivious to happenings around me!

If you are going to do it, have it done professionally and spare no costs. The guy that did my vehicles charged about $2000 per vehicle (this was 5 or more years ago!), but all it will take is 1 real estate transaction during the life of the artwork you just had done on your car to pay for itself.

Lastly, if a person can afford this, and has a place for a truck like this, moving trucks are HUGE in terms of marketing. When not used, they sit somewhere as advertisement. This guys has an example on his home page: roblevy.com

Capt. Mike · 05-16-2007, 07:27 AM

We had (my wife and I) professionally done car magnets with the contact phone number in large print...easy to see from a considerable distance. We had them on two cars for two years...we got one call from them and it was a crank call from someone wanting to do my wife.

Some say they have some value for name recognition...I dont know...we got rid them.

Plus now we can hang at our favorite watering holes and other places w/ out having to take them off the cars.

Smuck · 05-16-2007, 08:21 AM

Capt.Mike's point reminds of a principle I held when spending money on marketing.

When spending money on marketing, go big, or don't go at all. I think the problem with magnetic signs is that everyone has them. They sorta 'blend in.' I am of the opinion if you want exposure on a vehicle then go for it. The principle holds true in yellow page advertising, little league sponsorships, etc. For instance, when we did little league sponsorships, we went for the $2000-$3000 score board sponsorship and ended up getting business from it. Whereas, the simple team sponsorship never really mounted to much in terms of marketing. However, it did help the little folks out, so that was good.